Part II—UNODIR—Chapter 11 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 11, p. 139—Richard and his new unit, SEAL Team Two, Platoon 8, fly to a much more built-up Binh Thuy base. Richard has trouble with his headquarters, who want his platoon to act as support for operations along the rivers of the Mekong Delta. Instead, Richard orders the unit to go off on missions designed to kill the enemy, unless otherwise directed, which has the acronym UNODIR. Richard's platoon grabs live Vietcong prisoners as the platoon goes native, wearing ARVN style sneakers, sandals and sometimes sneaking around barefoot.

At the time of the Vietnamese Tet holiday, at the end of January, Richard and Gordy and the men go to Chau Doc, a provisional capital near the Cambodian border. They visit the local commander who is well-dressed, but a useless drunk. The...